RR01 Off the Beaten Path
by GSTJG
Summary: Round Robin. Gohan and Videl get lost in the woods, and Videl doesn't know about Gohan's powers! What's a demi-Saiyan to do? Plot donated by texaspeach.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Off the Beaten Path  
**Author: **texaspeach (both here and on DA)  
**Rating:** PG – Due to the large number of authors participating in this event, rating is subject to change at any time.  
**Disclaimer:** None of the authors taking part in this Round Robin claim to own Dragonball/Z/GT.

**Summary: **Round Robin. Gohan and Videl get lost in the woods, and Videl doesn't know about Gohan's powers! What's a demi-Saiyan to do? (Plot donated by texaspeach.)

--- --- ---

**Chapter One**

Videl looked around, surveying the trees, bushes, and dirt with distaste. What was she doing out in the middle of the woods, again? She glanced back at the school bus and sighed heavily.

Ah yes, the annual Orange Star High School senior field trip. Normally, the class would go somewhere in the city, like a play or a museum or some other "educational" activity, but both the lead actor and his understudy had come down with the flu (furthering the stereotypical image of the male thespian, in Videl's humble opinion). The museum was being renovated and the security being enhanced after a robbery in which Videl had (somehow) lost the perpetrator. Of course, as per the usual, the Great Saiyageek had swooped in at the last minute, carrying the man by the seat of his pants.

The girl growled, fists clenching. She wanted to pummel that guy into the ground until he finally begged for mercy and showed her just who was under that stupid trash can of a helmet!

"If you keep that up, you'll scare away all the bears, Videl," a male voice teased. Videl whirled around, coming face-to-chest with the newest student of OSHS. Gohan Son (or Son Gohan as he so often introduced himself – he was definitely from the country) was extremely tall, the tallest in their class. She tended to get a crick in her neck trying to see his face from this close, so she took a few quick steps back to save herself the pain. The girl opened her mouth to ask just what the hell that was supposed to mean when she was interrupted by a loud squeal and a flash of blonde hair as Erasa glomped her best friend.

"Videl!" the blonde cried. "I haven't seen you in so long! I missed you so much!"  
Videl tried to slip out of the choke hold on her neck and failed, shooting a glare at Gohan when he laughed at her predicament and yet made no move to help her. "Erasa!" she gasped. "I can't breathe! And you just saw me yesterday at school, you dimwit!"

Sharpener, who'd been trying to sneak up behind Erasa and scare her (until she had thrown herself at Videl), laughed and peeled the girl off Videl's neck. This proved to be a mistake – Erasa merely squealed louder and transferred her affections to him. While the poor teenager tried to wrestle his friend away, Videl turned narrowed eyes on Gohan. The boy in question backed up, hands held up in the universal sign of surrender, still with that infuriating grin. Videl opened her mouth to rip him a new one when she was interrupted yet again, this time by the science teacher whose brilliant idea to come out and study the natural world was slowly starting to look like a bad idea.

"Okay, kids, gather around!" he shouted. When they were all congregated into a loose circle around him (save for Erasa and Sharpener, the latter of which was still trying to get the girl to let go of his neck), he cleared his throat slightly. "I'm going to just let you explore the woods. Bring back an interesting specimen for me to look at and you'll get a 100 for the final exam and won't have to take the original one. Now, pair off and get going! And for the love of all that's holy or not, STAY ON THE PATH!!!" Videl took one look at the hordes of guys crawling over each other to get to her, then at the horde of girls trying to pair up with Gohan, then at Sharpener and Erasa (Sharpener was weakening – the lack of air was getting to him), and then grabbed Gohan by the arm and dragged him toward a random path that led into the forest.

"Thanks, Videl," Gohan said gratefully. "I'll never know how to handle all those girls."

"Get a girlfriend," Videl shot back, grinning slightly. "They'll back off." She stopped, thinking about it, before resuming her walking. "Probably."

"Probably?" her companion repeated jokingly, easily keeping pace with her.

"You can't forget about the stalkers," she reminded him, and he laughed loudly.

They walked along in companionable silence, though Videl kept watching Gohan out of the corner of her eye. He looked more relaxed than she had ever remembered seeing him. But it made sense, she thought. He was from the 439 area, a place that until now she had believed was practically uninhabited. The big city was probably torture for him, all cars and planes and people and noise. He could probably survive in the wilderness with nothing but the clothes on his back, maybe even less.

The girl's thoughts were cut short when Gohan knelt down by a tree, gently fingering a flower. "These don't tend to grow around here," he remarked, sounding puzzled. "I'll bet that Mr. Barnes would like to see this though."

"What is it?" Videl asked curiously, bending over slightly to get a better view. It was very pretty, pure white and small.

"It's an edelweiss flower," the other teen replied, frowning as he stood up. "People call it 'Queen's flower' as well. It normally grows in much higher elevations than this."

Videl shrugged. "Well, if we don't find anything else, we can always show him this," she reasoned. "We don't even have to pick the flower; we didn't walk that far away."

"True," Gohan said. "Want to keep walking?"

"Sure," the girl shrugged again. "Nothing else to do."

The path meandered along and over a river, or rather along and across the edges of its banks. The rushing water had cut down through stone until it was about ten feet below the edge of what could probably be called a cliff. There were several bridges that crisscrossed the gorge at various distances in front of them. Videl looked cautiously at the wooden planks and metal framing of the scaffolds, but from what she could tell, there was neither rotting wood nor rusting metal.

They reached the first one and Gohan jokingly bowed, making a grand sweeping gesture with his hand. "Ladies first," he said. Videl mock-sniffed at him and stepped carefully onto the bridge. Just because she hadn't seen any corrosion or rotting didn't meant that it wasn't there. However, she and Gohan both made it across with no mishaps, not even a squeaky piece of wood. First one down.

Neither teen saw anything more interesting than the edelweiss flower from before, so they continued along the path in silence. As before, it was a companionable silence, one that didn't need to be broken. Both were habitually quiet and neither felt the need for small talk. It wasn't long before they reached the second bridge.

It happened suddenly. Videl went first again, wincing at the creaky sound of the boards on this bridge. This one hadn't been quite as well maintained, she realized. She turned around to say that they probably shouldn't be crossing this bridge when the sound of cracking filled her ears. The girl automatically grabbed at the metallic framing to keep herself from falling, but it wasn't her. Gohan's surprised face filled her vision before he plunged through the hole in the bottom, revealing the underside of rotting wood. Videl leant forward in time to see Gohan's form disappear beneath the water.

There was no time to think. She raced to the other side of the gorge, looking frantically for Gohan to reappear again. When he didn't, she prayed that the river was as deep as it looked and dove in.

--- --- ---

Beta'd by Ms. Videl Son (aka, megaminoeien on DA)


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** Off the Beaten Path  
**Author: **Ms Videl Son (aka, megaminoeien on DA)  
**Rating:** PG – Due to the large number of authors participating in this event, rating is subject to change at any time.  
**Disclaimer:** None of the authors taking part in this Round Robin claim to own Dragonball/Z/GT.

**Summary: **Round Robin. Gohan and Videl get lost in the woods, and Videl doesn't know about Gohan's powers! What's a demi-Saiyan to do? (donated by texaspeach)

--- --- ---

**Chapter Two**

"N-No! _VIDEL_!" Gohan shouted, staring in horror at the small form that gravity quickly pulled away from him. The river below seemed to be dragging the girl towards it, its swirling waters opening wide to swallow her whole. Videl's brave rescue attempt was almost certainly going to end her life!

Gohan, who still clung to the underside of the bridge, shook off his initial shock and called forth his chi. Supercharging it so that he could make up for the time and space that spanned between them, the demi-Saiyan propelled himself onward at top speed, his arms outstretched in front of him to the victim of his cowardly folly. If only he'd pulled himself up sooner...made up some dumb excuse for why he hadn't fallen to his death quicker...Videl wouldn't be about to –

"No," Gohan reprimanded himself verbally. This wasn't over; Videl wasn't gone yet. He could still catch her, he had to!

Unfortunately, the female champion of justice had quite a head start on him; she was already only a few yards away from the water's surface. In less than a minute, she would collide with the hard coldness and everything would go black for her.

Gohan delved deep inside himself and released some of the dormant power he knew (and feared) rested within his soul. It lazily uncoiled itself, a sleepy dragon with a hunger for power, and the boy forced it into action; utilizing the warm red chi to his full advantage, Gohan turned his speed up another ten notches and swooped to the rescue.

His arms encircled his surprised classmate less than a second later and pulled her back flat against his heaving chest. The surface of the river was coming – impact was imminent – and his body was out of control! Knowing full well that he wouldn't be able to pull up fast enough to avoid hitting the water altogether, Gohan rolled their tangled bodies in mid air so that his back would hit first.

He had just enough time to squeeze his eyes shut and steel himself for impact before –

--- --- ---

Videl burst out of the river, sputtering and coughing out the ice-cold water that had infiltrated her lungs. It spewed from her mouth in torrents, but more kept coming up as she struggled to stay afloat on the fast-moving current.

"G-Gohan!" she called, hacking as more river water came flowing into her mouth. She spit it out as she swiveled her head around, searching for her classmate. She couldn't see him anywhere. "_GOHAN_!"

There! He was just downriver from her, bobbing up and down like an apple at a fair. He looked unconscious, or close to it; pretty soon, he'd sink to the bottom of the river and drown there.

After filling her lungs with as much air as she could, Videl took the plunge again and ducked beneath the water's surface. She forced her tired muscles to work at full capacity and propelled herself through the freezing liquid like a missile. Luckily, the current was with her so her progress went unimpeded by the river; if anything, it pushed her forward toward her destination with greater speed.

Videl kept her eyes open beneath the murky surface, her attention focused entirely on Gohan. He was only a few feet away – nearly close enough to touch –

Though his fingers slipped from hers several times, Videl managed to get a firm grasp on him finally and pulled him toward her. It was then that she breached the layer of water between her and the sunlight, bursting into the fresh mountain air with a twisting pain in her chest. Gohan's face was barely above water, but he was still breathing; that was definitely a good sign.

After reaffirming her grip on the boy, Videl kicked out her aching legs and began to move them towards shore. It was only a few yards, but felt so far away...with Gohan weighing her down, it would be nearly impossible to...

"No," Videl snipped at herself through gritted teeth. They were both making it out of this stupid field trip alive, damn it! And then she'd petition the county for more bridge funding...

Videl called on every last shred of energy within her body and started anew, dragging herself and her burden towards the mossy shore.

--- --- ---

Gohan slowly drifted back into reality, finding no energy to fight the oncoming onslaught of consciousness. The dragon had invaded his dreams again, taunting him for weakness and laughing at his expense. '_A failure_,' the crimson beast had called him. '_Pathetic._'

The demi-Saiyan wiped the dream memories from his mind and focused his attention on peeling apart his sticky eyelids. Light infiltrated the crack he'd made, causing him to flinch and squeeze it closed. He was getting a migraine, he could tell already.

"Nnm..."

The soft moan – a girl's timbre – captured his wavering attention and Gohan suddenly remembered why he had been unconscious in the first place. With less hesitation this time, he opened his eyes and took in the view.

Videl's slumbering face was the first thing that appeared to his tired eyes. She was no more than a foot away, her cheek flat against the silty soil beneath her, and wet tendrils of dark hair clinging to her neck and forehead. Her pigtails were gone (presumably undone by the struggle in the river) so it coiled in thick ropes around her. She glistened in the bright spring sunlight.

Gohan didn't know he was reaching out to her until his fingers made contact with her face. The tips ghosted over her cheek, smearing water droplets and disturbing the fine hairs that clung there. Her breath puffed steadily against his palm, ensuring him that her moan hadn't been a dream; she was alive.

Almost as if reaffirming his discovery one more time, Videl opened her eyes.

Gohan jerked his hand back, more than embarrassed at being caught by her piercing blue stare. It was half-lidded, drooping even, but she was clearly fighting to keep her eyes open.

"I...," she began, pausing to blink at him. "Didn't know you could fly."

--- --- ---

Beta'd by Ms. Videl Son (aka, megaminoeien on DA).


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** Off the Beaten Path  
**Author: **Piccolo is green (aka, PiccoloIsGreen on DA)  
**Rating:** PG – Due to the large number of authors participating in this event, rating is subject to change at any time.  
**Disclaimer:** None of the authors taking part in this Round Robin claim to own Dragonball/Z/GT.

**Summary: **Round Robin. Gohan and Videl get lost in the woods, and Videl doesn't know about Gohan's powers! What's a demi-Saiyan to do? (donated by texaspeach)

--- --- ---

**Chapter Three**

"F… fly?!" Gohan stammered, grasping for some sort of excuse. Desperate, he laughed nervously in the hope that it would ward off her penetrating stare.

It had the opposite effect.

"I… I think you must have hit your head too hard, Videl," he blurted, swallowing nervously as she pushed herself up on her elbows, her eyes no longer looking sleepy as they narrowed menacingly. He grimaced, both from the taste of the dirt that happened to be on his lips, and her glare, wishing desperately that they had turned back before the second bridge.

_Stupid_, he berated himself. _Krillin always says that girls mess with your judgment._

"I didn't hit my head, Gohan," she replied harshly, averting her head to spit out the taste of polluted river water. Suddenly aware that her white t-shirt was plastered to her, she blushed, pulling the wet top away from her body and covering her fluster by glaring at Gohan again. "You flew behind me and turned us around. You hit the water and got knocked unconscious, but I was awake for long enough to drag your sorry body out of the river."

"Ahhhh… haha!" Gohan laughed again, avoiding any further eye contact. "I wasn't flying, Videl," he denied, speaking quickly; "I was falling! I hung onto the bridge but my hands slipped and then I fell on top of you. It was so quick it's hard to remember… I mean, we must both be in shock," he blabbered, voice rising in pitch as he searched for more excuses. "Normal people can't fly!" he finished lamely, adding another laugh and wincing when his voice broke.

Videl's eyes narrowed even more, but she refrained from pushing the topic even further, even though she knew that the law of gravity held that falling objects fell at the same speed – regardless of their weight. If Gohan had dropped from the bridge after her, he shouldn't have fallen on top of her until after she hit the water, meaning that there was no legitimate explanation for the phenomenon that had just occurred.

The naturally pretty girl shook her head to dispel the confusing thoughts; there was no point in wasting time on them now. People couldn't fly (unless you counted the Great Saiyaman, and she had a feeling that he relied on cheap tricks like hidden rocket packs), what had happened didn't make sense, and she was soaking wet, tired and dirty. Adding to their troubles was the fact that her backpack full of capsules had been lost, and her watch – the item she used to communicate with the Satan City Police Department – was water damaged and useless.

And, to top it all off, it was getting dark.

"I'm not sure how far we were washed downstream, Gohan," she said, her voice sounding harsh even to her own ears. "Let's just forget all this stupidity and do something. It's getting dark and we need shelter and warmth. I think I can speak for the both of us when I say that we don't want to get hypothermia."

"You're right," Gohan replied, looking suddenly brighter at the prospect of actually doing something. "My vest is soaked through… I guess I better take that off."

Videl watched inconspicuously as the tall boy removed his black vest, dropping it carelessly on the ground. He too was wearing a white shirt, and the thin fabric clung to the contours of his body. Videl couldn't help as her jaw dropped open; the nerdy boy's six pack and well-defined pecks were not what she was expecting to see under there!

_He must work out in his spare time!_ she thought, her mind suddenly racing. _Unless he just has freakish genetics; I've heard of people like that. After all, I've inherited my father's strength… maybe one of his parents is really built?_

Unbeknownst to Videl, it was a combination of freakish genetics and workouts that had given Gohan the toned body that he sported. Although he no longer trained heavily, the teen still spent his spare time playing with his little brother. Given the fact that both Gohan and his younger sibling Goten were half-Saiyans, – giving them a large amount of energy, inhumanly perfect fitness levels, and a muscular build – the brothers' playing ended up being far more of a workout than even the toughest human athletes endured.

Gohan remained oblivious of Videl's stare, his mind instead turning inwards to mull over the predicament they were in. He realized with dismay that they really would be spending the night in the bush. Although he had the power to fly them both out of there within a minute, he couldn't reveal his powers like that, and his senses could easily pick up that his classmates' ki were all returning to the field trip camp. There was no way that a search party would start up tonight.

_They probably think Hercule's daughter is out saving me from trouble,_ he mused with a shake of the head. _I guess it's better than them knowing that I'm Saiyaman, though._

He picked at his own shirt, and with a shrug, decided to remove that too. Like his father, Gohan never had much trouble with body temperature (Saiyans tended to adapt to their environments a little better than humans; only the snow really cooled them down) and the teen decided that it was better to be shirtless than to be wearing soggy clothing. Picking up his vest from the ground, he folded both wet items neatly, rolling them together until they could be easily held in one hand. It was only then that he noticed Videl's condition.

"Videl!" he exclaimed in shock, "You're freezing! We've gotta get you dry and warm!"

"Wh… what ab…out you?" the girl asked through chattering teeth. Although the cold hadn't bothered her at first, the quick descent of the sun, coupled with an increasing amount of wind blowing through the forest, was enough to drain her already weakened body of the vital heat it needed to keep it functioning properly. Gohan recognized the danger in this; if Videl didn't get warm soon she'd risk suffering from hypothermia. He realized that the time had come to act quickly.

"I'm fine, Videl," he replied, extending his hand towards her in order to help her up. "My shirt wasn't helping with the cold. I don't think yours is, either," he added, his cheeks and nose turning pink, "but I guess you probably don't wanna take that off."

"Hmph! D… don't think I'm gonna fall for that one, Gohan!" she retorted quickly, despite the fact that she knew he was right. "Let's jussst hurry u…p and find shel…ter, and make a fire, ok? Thanks to you I l…ost my backpack _and_ all my capsules, so we're gon…na have to rough it tonight." She pushed past the tall boy and headed up the steep hill that grew out of the riverbank, her shivers beginning to dissipate as she pushed herself to move quickly. "Hurry up, Gohan!" she ordered over her shoulder. "Soon it's going to be impossible to see and then we'll be really screwed! We need to find shelter _now_!"

Gohan sighed and stepped into place behind her. It didn't matter that he actually had great night-vision; he couldn't let her know about any of his Saiyan powers. As the girl slipped, sliding down a strip of loose rubble and into his bare chest, he hoped he could get through the next day without too much trouble from the feisty female.

Considering the fact that her buttocks just happened to fall into his hands when she slipped, Gohan felt that trouble was unavoidable, and braced himself for the worst.

--- --- ---

Beta'd by Ms. Videl Son (aka, megaminoeien on DA).


	4. Chapter 4

**Title:** Off the Beaten Path  
**Author: **miss-apple-dbz (aka, MandereLee on DA)  
**Rating:** PG – Due to the large number of authors participating in this event, rating is subject to change at any time.  
**Disclaimer:** None of the authors taking part in this Round Robin claim to own Dragonball/Z/GT.

**Summary: **Round Robin. Gohan and Videl get lost in the woods, and Videl doesn't know about Gohan's powers! What's a demi-Saiyan to do? (donated by texaspeach)

--- --- ---

**Chapter Four**

Videl gasped after registering her current position and taking in the fact that Gohan had just saved her… by grabbing her on her rear. Her head snapped up and for a moment the two could only stare at each other, unmoving. Gohan blinked and all too suddenly relinquished his hold. Videl ended up in a heap on the ground.

"Ah!" she exclaimed, scampering to her feet quickly. She faced Gohan once again and gave him a good slap on the chest. "Don't go around groping girls! It's not polite, you know!" she yelled angrily. She seemed to have forgotten that she was suffering severe cold.

Gohan placed his hands in front of him defensively. "I was just trying to save you from falling!"

"Well, I did anyway!" she shot back, stompingoff angrily. "As a matter of fact I would have preferred that to being harassed by you!" She continued to mumble.

"I wasn't trying to harass you, Videl! Really," he protested. "Don't you think you're overreacting a little?"

"Overreacting?!" she yelled. "We just got lost from our trip, Gohan! I almost drowned, you _flew _and almost drowned, so I'm sorry for having a reaction!" She furiously stormed off past the bushes and into the thick forest. Gohan slowly followed behind her.

The sun crept down on the horizon, ending up in an upturned bowl of bright red and orange. The contagiousness of the sun's color washed the sky with a similar hue, but the darkness was rapidly overpowering it.

Gohan looked ahead and realized that his good night vision was helping him find a tolerable path around the wild forest, but he could tell that it would was becoming more and more difficult for his partner to see. She was slightly ahead of him, still giving him the silent treatment, and occasionally tripping here and there over branches and rocks well hidden by the thickening shadows. He wasn't worried much about her stumbling, and even went as far as to pretend that he hadn't noticed it, because he knew it would hurt her pride if he pointed it out. What he was more concerned about was her shivering. Her clothes had not dried yet and the approaching night would not help dry them,either.

She cornered around a tree and appeared to go to a different direction. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"T-there seems to be b-bigger trees… h-here," she answered. "I-It'll b-be easer… t-to b-build a sh-shelter out of them… especially if they're… cl-close to-together. Th-that way, they c-can block m-more wind."

Gohan frowned and surveyed the route she wanted to go to. He sensed a wild pack of wolves that way and he didn't want the two of them to encounter the creatures.

"How about we just keep heading this way?" he suggested instead. "I know you're cold, but I have a feeling that there's a cave nearby. I mean, not that I would actually _know_ if there's a cave nearby, but there usually are caves especially around rocky areas like these. There's bound to be one somewhere. And it's probably near. Not that I'd know, exactly. But just trust me on this one."

Videl glowered at him and crossed her arms. "And why can't we go here instead?"

"It's just … if there should be a lot more plants there… that will make our traveling a lot harder, because we can't see them."

She closed her eyes, and wearily trudged over to his side again. "Alright. But just because I'm letting you win this time doesn't mean that I trust you. I know you're hiding something."

Gohan sighed and began to walk. He was certain there was a cave here; he had been trying to reach it all this time. It wasn't far away now, but he also sensed some untamed animals lurking there. Hopefully, they would be gone before the two teens reached it.

Only a few minutes later, they arrived at the rocky dwelling Gohan had remembered.

"Wow, you were right," he heard Videl whisper. Before he could take a sigh of relief though, she added, "There's something suspicious about you, Son Gohan."

He could only chuckle. "Heh heh...what do you mean? I've just read about them, that's all. And it helps that I live on the mountains because we do have some pretty thick forests like this. Really…"

"Can you hurry up? I'm freezing!" said Videl as she dashed off towards the cave.

Gohan was about to follow when he realized that there were still some animals left inside. Large creatures. Most of the ones he'd sensed had dispersed already, but there were still some left…

"Videl, wait! Hold on a moment!"

But she had disappeared already into the cavity amongst the rocks. She came out several seconds later, squealing. Gohan had braced himself to see some kind of a monster hot on her heels, ready to munch on her for dinner.

However, she came out alone, grinning. "Gohan, guess what? There seems to be a hot spring in there!" she exclaimed. "Quick, let's build a fire. Then, I'll take a torch and warm up in the hot spring."

"A hot spring?"

Videl grabbed his hand and led him to opening. From there, a warm, thin mist was evidently flowing out, and a strange aroma that clearly indicated the existence of a small body of sulfuric water.

"It's dark inside so let's hurry and make a fire. I want to take a dip as soon as possible," she said. The two teens used the wood they had collected on their walk to make a fire by the entrance of the cave. Because Gohan was proficient with such things, he was able to speed up the building process, much to Videl's delight. As soon as the fire was bright and healthy, the girl took a thick branch to blaze it alight.

"I'm heading off now. I can't wait to get these soggy clothes off of me." She threateningly glared at Gohan. "Don't even _think_ about coming to peek or you'll wish I hadn't saved you from drowning at the river."

"Haha, you know I wouldn't do such a thing!" Gohan laughed and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "But I think there may be some animals in there."

But Videl was already walking away. "I can handle a few animals," she said. "And I'll make sure to inspect the place before getting too comfortable. In any case, I'd better not see an inch of you trying to get in."

The crime fighter left Gohan sitting on the ground.

The cave, illuminated by the fire, was a very interesting sight to Videl as she was quite unfamiliar with nature. The stalactites that hung lazily from the ceiling of the cave were lustrous and dark gray and shone back the yellow intensity of the fire. The hot spring was not too near the entrance, but she saw it as soon as soon as the waters began to reflect the light. After she had wedged the torch between a group of thick stalagmites, she removed her damp clothes and settled them among the rocks.

Videl walked over to the water and settled in until she was chest-deep in it. The hot liquid eased her aching muscles and she shivered away the dangerous coolness her body had acquired in the past half hour. It would be an understatement to say how relieved she was that they had found this place. Videl had been afraid that she would come down with a bad case of hypothermia and then a good fire might not be enough to warm her up with the flimsy materials of her clothes. It was a real misfortune that had struck them; the girl couldn't believe she'd lost everything she had brought with them in that river.

Videl sighed wearily and stretched herself out. Ah well… at least she had this. The teen leaned back against a smooth boulder that was perched near the bank of the spring and closed her eyes. She could fall asleep like this. That would be nice....But she'd wouldn't leave Gohan alone all night. Who knew what kind of trouble that boy would get himself into?

There was a soft, deep rumbling that echoed in the caves. Videl opened her eyes and inspected her surroundings. The fire could only elucidate fractions of the cave because, even though it was rich and bright, it caused dark shadows to tango along the walls. Gohan had mentioned that there could be animals here, but she didn't see anything moving.

There was a sudden scratching near her back. She climbed out of the spring, walked away from her rocky shelter and squinted to see what kind of creature was out there in the darkness.

There was nothing. Just a big rock.

She continued to stare at the same boulder and could have sworn that something around it had moved.

…Hold on. There wasn't _anything_ on it. The whole rock was shifting away! It lifted a couple of feet above her head and stopped there.

Videl was glued with fright and wonder, thinking how in the world things managed to defy the force of gravity so easily. '_Gee! First it's Gohan and then this rock? Why are things suddenly flying away?'_

It was only moments later that she realized it was not a rock. Two slits opened up on the sides of the boulder and what seemed like flattened pebbles were actually its… eyes?

The deep growling continued again, and this time it was followed by the opening of a wider and bigger slit on the rock, right under the two orbs. It revealed sharp, gray teeth that greatly resembled the roof of the cave.

"Videl!" she heard Gohan yell from outside. "Are you okay in there?"

What in the world? It was almost like Gohan knew there was something strange going on inside the cave!

"Videl! Hey! Can you hear me?" His persistent calling, however, was not returned. Videl knew that a single sound would attract this creature's attention and if she answered… well, she would be done for.

Slowly, she retreated back from the water, pacing herself so that she would not stumble from the uneven grounding of the spring. The level of the water began to lower, and she was halfway out when she heard Gohan's voice call to her again. Closer this time.

"Hey Videl!"

She turned around, and from what little she could make out near the entrance of the cave, she saw Gohan's silhouette coming towards her clumsily. The shadow peeled away from his face once he got close to the spring.

"Ah!" he cried out, and Videl was very much aware that he had not reacted in such a way because of the monster behind her. His eyes were fixed on _her_.

"Ooh…" he muttered, but still did not move an inch. Videl had a strong urge of rushing towards where he was and smacking the senses back to him, except she was afraid of what sudden movements would do to the monster behind her.

She didn't have to wait as it let out a hungry, earth-shattering roar.

---

Beta'd by Ms. Videl Son (aka, megaminoeien on DA).


	5. Chapter 5

**Title:** Off the Beaten Path

**Author: **Crackabad

**Rating:** PG – Due to the large number of authors participating in this event, rating is subject to change at any time.

**Disclaimer:** None of the authors taking part in this Round Robin claim to own Dragonball/Z/GT.

**Summary: **Round Robin. Gohan and Videl get lost in the woods, and Videl doesn't know about Gohan's powers! What's a demi-Saiyan to do? (donated by texaspeach)

--- --- ---

**Chapter 5**

"Ahhhh!!" Videl yelled as she heard the monster's loud roar coming from behind her. Acting on her first instincts, she ran to Gohan, who seemed a little dazed from the sight of a semi-naked girl, and hid behind him in fear. "Gohan!" she cried, trying to snap him out of his reverie. "Do something!!"

Another roar came from the monster, bringing Gohan to his senses just in time to see that the monster was about to charge at him and Videl. The demi-saiyan quickly tried to think of what to do. '_I can't do anything that will show her my powers, but I cant let us get eaten!_' he thought.

Unfortunately, he didn't have enough time to come to a clear decision as the monster ran at them, mouth wide open, so he had to act on pure instinct instead. "Videl, move!" he shouted.

"But...," she began, but couldn't finish as she saw Gohan step forward towards the monster.

He took the creature by the upper and lower lips with his strong grasp, causing him to slide back a little. Finally, he brought the monster to a stop with his strength.

Videl couldn't believe what she was witnessing. There was Gohan, the class nerd, holding down a monster that was three or four times larger than him by its mouth! But what really amazed her was that, once Gohan had stopped the creature's charge, it looked like he was dealing with the situation with relative ease!

'_How is he able to do that?_' she thought. '_I mean, I saw that he had a strong body, but I don't know anyone that could fight a monster like that so easily. Not even my dad could do it!_'

Gohan finally had the creature's mouth closed and sent a quick uppercut to its throat. To Videl, the punch looked like nothing, but as a result the monster started wobbling back and forth, clearly in pain. Then, after giving them one last look, it turned around and ran the other way.

'_He hardly flexed his arm with that punch!_' Videl thought '_How was he able to do enough damage to make the monster give up after one blow!?_'

Gohan dusted his hands together, congratulating himself on a job well done, before remembering that he was being watched by a certain girl. '_Great_' Gohan thought. '_How am I going to play this one off?_'

Before he could think of anything, he felt a tap on his shoulder. With a sense of knowing what to expect, he slowly started to turn around to face the girl he knew would want to know about everything that had just happened.

But as soon as he caught a glimpse of her, he quickly turned away with a bright blush on his face and a small trickle of red dripped from his nose.

Peeved that he was ignoring her, Videl tapped his shoulder again out of frustration "Helloooo? Gohaaaan? Turn around!" she said, but Gohan did not budge.

Instead, he stuttered, "Ummm...d-don't you think you want to p-put on your c-clothes f-first before I t-turn around..?"

Videl let out a small "Eep" as she realized that sometime during all the excitement she had completely forgotten she wearing nothing but her bra and panties.

Now it was Videl's turn to blush. She quickly tried to cover her body with her arms, but still thought that she wasn't covering enough of herself. "Umm...Gohan, go back to the fire now!" she yelled. "And cover your eyes as you go back!" she added.

Gohan nodded and quickly did as he was told; he ran back to the fire and actually found himself thankful for more time to think of a good way to get out of this predicament.

As Videl watched Gohan's silhouette disappear, she slowly stopped trying to cover herself and walked back over to where she had laid her clothes down, thinking about what had just happened. '_I have no idea what to make of Gohan. He can fly, he can almost sense the right directions to travel in, and he has incredible strength..._' she thought as she recalled his fight with that monster.

As she was finishing putting on her clothes, an idea struck her. '_No way, he can't be. Not Nerdy Gohan. But...it explains everything._'

Then a devilish grin crossed her lips. '_I'll just interrogate it out of him,_' she thought. '_It shouldn't be too hard, knowing him._' She laughed to herself.

Gohan was by the fire, trying to dry off his clothes. He wasn't able to think up a good excuse for what he had done in front of Videl. "Oh, I was just lucky that the monster wasn't very strong," he said aloud to himself. '_No...,_' he thought. '_That's just stupid. Maybe..._'

His musings were interrupted when he saw Videl's shadow walking towards him. '_I'm screwed,_' he thought with a long sigh.

Videl came over and sat right down across from him on the other side of the fire with a big grin on her face. Gohan didn't really know why she should be smiling, but it gave him a bad feeling. He thought that she would have a more serious look when she questioned him. '_Maybe she's just happy that we made it out okay and not worried about how I did it,'_ he thought quite optimistically.

"So...how was your stay in the spring?" Gohan said, trying to keep Videl's mind off of the whole ordeal with the monster. He hoped it would work.

Then Videl's expression changed from a grin to a more serious look. "Gohan, lets just cut to the chase."

'_Yup, that's the face I was expecting_,' Gohan thought with a sigh as all his previous optimism went away in a flash.

"What do you mean?" Gohan asked, again trying any way he could to get Videl off topic, but really knowing that it was to no avail. He wasn't expecting what she would say next; instead of a question for him, he got a statement from her.

"I know who you really are...," Videl simply began with the grin returning to her face.

'_No way...there's no way she could know, could she?_' Gohan thought as he just sat in disbelief.

He knew that he was in a far worse predicament than before as Videl finished her statement; "...Mr. Saiyaman!"

'_How do I disprove her now...?_' was all Gohan could think.

--- --- ---

Beta'd by Ms. Videl Son (aka, megaminoeien on DA)


	6. Chapter 6

**Title:** Off the Beaten Path  
**Author: **Lilly-sama (aka, Kisakun on DA)  
**Rating:** PG – Due to the large number of authors participating in this event, rating is subject to change at any time.  
**Disclaimer:** None of the authors taking part in this Round Robin claim to own Dragonball/Z/GT.

**Summary: **Round Robin. Gohan and Videl get lost in the woods, and Videl doesn't know about Gohan's powers! What's a demi-Saiyan to do? (donated by texaspeach)

* * *

**Chapter 6**

"S-S-Saiyaman? M-Me?" Gohan stuttered, trying to sound convincing but failing miserably. He cleared his throat and continued, "You can't be serious!"

"I know you're Saiyaman, don't try to deny it." Videl persisted, her grin now replaced by a glare directed at him. She knew he was lying again and it was starting to get on her nerves.

"But really, Videl, I'm not Saiyaman!" Gohan tried to reason desperately. "Just because I'm a little strong doesn't mean I'm Saiyaman! Actually, I know a few people who can do what I did, and they're not Saiyaman, either!"

The girl raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Oh, really? And who are those people?" she inquired.

"Oh, um… Just… uh… friends of mine," the Son boy mumbled; he didn't want people to know about his friends and invade their privacy, but he really didn't have a choice except to mention them now. Hopefully, Videl could keep it to herself.

"Is that so…," she said, eying him suspiciously.

"Please Videl, you have to believe me! I'm not Saiyaman," Gohan insisted. He couldn't allow her to know who he really was. He just couldn't.

Videl eyed him suspiciously some more; she _knew_ he was hiding something, but maybe his secret wasn't that he was Saiyaman after all.

"Alright, I believe you," the girl ended up saying. Actually, she didn't _completely_ believe him, but she needed more evidence to prove that she was right.

Gohan blinked. He had actually managed to lie _and_ make Videl believe him? _'I guess I'm getting good at lying, by dint of practicing,'_ the boy mused.

"I'm still curious as to how you can be so strong, though," the teen girl added. "You took on a monster twice as big as you and looked as though it took no effort at all. I don't think even my dad could do that."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. After all, your dad beat Cell!" Gohan responded, trying to sound like he believed what he was saying. He had never understood how the world could believe that Mr. Satan had defeated a monster like Cell when the man had been ejected from the ring after less than three seconds. It suited the young hero, though; he'd never wanted the glory. He just couldn't fathom how someone could actually accept such a thing.

"True…," Videl said thoughtfully. "But that would mean that you're at least as strong as my dad… How did you get so strong?" she then asked.

"Well I… trained a lot," Gohan ended up saying, sighing. He figured telling her that wouldn't do him harm.

"How long?" The girl questioned.

"Since childhood. Look, Videl, I know you're curious to know more, but it's getting late and I'd like to get some sleep. We'll continue tomorrow if you want," he then suggested. The demi-Saiyan would rather not, but it didn't seem like he had a choice.

"Alright, we'll continue tomorrow, then," Videl agreed; she was getting tired herself, anyway.

They both laid on the hard ground, staying close enough to the fire to keep themselves warm. It wasn't long until they fell asleep, both exhausted after this long and eventful day.

///

Videl's awakening was not a pleasant one; her back and shoulders were aching and her stomach was growling, reminding her that she hadn't eaten since yesterday morning. She sat up slowly, wincing slightly from the pain in her back.

"Oh, you're awake."

She turned to Gohan, sitting by the extinguished fire, and her attention was immediately caught by the fruit lying beside him, her stomach growling louder. She blushed slightly at the embarrassing sound, hoping that Gohan hadn't heard it.

"You can have those," he said. "I already ate."

Mumbling a "thanks," Videl got up and sat beside the boy, beginning to eat the fruit lying on the ground.

"How long have you been awake?" She asked between two bites.

"About an hour," he replied. "I was hungry so I went out to search for food and found that fruit."

Videl nodded silently, continuing to eat. From time to time, Gohan noticed, she would wince slightly and massage her shoulder.

"Is your back hurting?" He asked, frowning.

The girl swallowed what she was chewing before replying, "Yeah, I didn't sleep very well on that hard ground."

"I can give you a massage, if you want," the boy offered without thinking. When Videl narrowed her eyes at him in suspicion, he realized that his suggestion probably sounded a little improper and he blushed slightly. "I-I mean, it's not like you could give yourself a massage. I just want to help; don't take it the wrong way…"

Videl eyed him suspiciously, not completely trusting him after yesterday's "incident" while they were looking for a shelter. But her back was aching terribly and a massage could fix her problem… Still, she wasn't sure she could trust Gohan; he looked naïve and innocent, but he was still a boy.

In the end she sighed and turned around so that her back was facing him. "Alright. Go ahead."

Cautiously, the young man began massaging the girl's shoulders and back, careful not to hurt her. He used give massages to his mother quite often when she was pregnant with Goten; add to that all the books he'd read about the subject, you could say that he knew what he was doing.

"So, Gohan, how about we continue our conversation from yesterday?" Videl then said and, although it sounded like a suggestion, the young Saiya-jin knew he didn't have a choice in the matter.

"If you want…," he said resignedly, still massaging the girl. "What do you want to know?"

"I'm curious about those friends of yours you told me about yesterday. Who are they, exactly? How did they get so strong?"

Gohan sighed. He'd seen that one coming. "Before I answer, you have to promise me that you won't reveal what I'm about to tell you to anyone. You see, if people knew about my friends, they'd want to know more about them and would invade their privacy. I don't want that to happen."

"I see your point and I won't say anything, don't worry," Videl assured him. "Hey, you're very good at massages; my back's not hurting anymore."

Gohan smiled and stopped massaging her back. "Thanks."

Turning around, Videl faced the boy once more. "Thanks for the massage, but can you answer me now?"

"Oh, yeah. Well, I guess you may have heard of some of my friends; they entered the World Martial Arts Tournament a few times and always got to the semifinals."

"If they entered the World Martial Arts Tournament, then I've probably heard of them. What are their names?"

"Well, there's Krillin, Yamcha, Tien Shin Han, Chiaotzu…and, of course, my dad, Son Goku."

Videl's jaw dropped. "Son Goku… is your father? Son Goku, the previous world champion, the one who single-handedly defeated the Red Ribbon Army and saved the world from King Piccolo? The _Legendary _Son Goku?"

Gohan raised his eyebrows. "How do you know all this about my dad?"

"Don't you know of a little something called the Internet? There's a lot of websites about your dad on there!"

"Oh," was all Gohan could say. He hadn't thought his father was so famous.

"I can't believe Son Goku is your dad! But I guess that explains how you can be so strong," Videl reasoned. "I haven't heard of him in a while, though. How's he doing? Does he still train? Could I meet him?"

"That's… going to be difficult," Gohan answered uneasily.

"What? Why?"

"He died seven years ago."

* * *

Beta'd by Ms. Videl Son (aka, megaminoeien on DA)


	7. Chapter 7

**Title:** Off the Beaten Path  
**Author: **ShadowMajin  
**Rating:** PG – Due to the large number of authors participating in this event, rating is subject to change at any time.  
**Disclaimer:** None of the authors taking part in this Round Robin claim to own Dragonball/Z/GT.

**Summary: **Round Robin. Gohan and Videl get lost in the woods, and Videl doesn't know about Gohan's powers! What's a demi-Saiyan to do? (donated by texaspeach)

* * *

Videl stared at the Son boy, soaking in the news that one of the greatest martial artists the world had ever seen had left this world without anyone knowing. Well, anyone except for family and close friends.

She hadn't seen that one coming. Considering all of the exploits of the former World Champion, one would figure that he would have died with the whole world watching instead of fading into history with no one the wiser. It was almost disturbing.

"Umm…," she said, breaking the silence in the cave. "How…how did he die? Your father, I mean."

This time it was Gohan's turn to stare at her, presumably thinking about his next answer. Some internal conflict was waging itself inside his mind; the Satan girl could see it as she looked into his eyes.

Eventually, he answered, "He died fighting Cell."

So that was how Son Goku had ended. It was fitting, she had to admit. One of the greatest fighters going down against the greatest evil the world had ever known.

Yet something was nagging in the back of Videl's head. Something that had happened just after that oversized cockroach had died. The more she thought about it, the more prominent it became in her mind. A frown covered her face as she asked, "But I thought everyone that Cell killed came back to life after he was defeated. Shouldn't your father have come back too?"

Once again, Gohan paused before looking away. "This isn't a very good subject for me. Could we talk about something else?"

For once, the Satan girl backed down. She knew how hard it was to talk about a deceased loved one...She'd let the topic go this time, but she was going to find out what the Son boy knew about his father's death sooner or later. There was something he was hiding, she could practically _smell_ it.

However, before she could start on a new topic, Gohan said, "It's starting to get late. I think we should consider getting some rest before we try finding our way out of here."

Videl cocked an eyebrow. "You expect me to go to sleep in a cave that had a monster in it barely an hour ago."

"We can take shifts. One person can sleep while the other keeps an eye out for anything unusual."

That wasn't a bad plan, Videl had to admit. But then, Gohan did come from a pretty remote place. He had probably spent enough time outdoors to figure out the best way to keep hungry animals from gnawing on him while he slept. "Fine, so do you want to sleep first or keep watch?"

"I'll keep watch," Gohan replied.

The girl nodded her head before a thought struck her. "This better not be some plan to molest me again. If I wake up to you groping me, you won't be leaving this cave alive, understand?"

The Son boy tried to respond to that claim, but only succeeded in stuttering out his defense, which ended up as pure gibberish. Finally, he managed to say, "I would never touch you like that!"

"Oh yeah? Then what do you call grabbing my ass earlier?"

"You were falling! I was trying to catch you!"

"By grabbing my ass," Videl deadpanned. "You know what? I'll take first watch. That way I know you aren't going to try anything."

Gohan just stared at her in astonishment. Eventually, he hung his head and let out a big sigh before agreeing with her. "Fine, I'll sleep first." Raising his head, he looked about the cave before moving closer to one of the cave walls. Laying down on his side with his back to the wall, he closed his eyes and tried to get some shut eye.

All the while, Videl kept a close watch on him. She didn't let her gaze waver until the boy's breathing evened out, indicating that he was finally asleep. Good, that was one matter done with.

Looking out the mouth of the cave, she frowned. There was so much about this boy that was slowly making itself known, yet she wanted to know more and more. So far, she knew that he was strong, really strong; he was the son of Son Goku, which led to the thought of him having some sort of fighting capability. She didn't know if that included some of the light tricks that his father had become infamous for, but if the two of them got into anymore situations that called upon his strength perhaps she'd get to see some of it in action. Though her father had always said that these "tricks" were fake, Videl wasn't so closed-minded as to accept his accusation outright. She hadn't ever seen such techniques in person so, if someone claimed to possess such abilities, she'd be willing to see what they were for herself and then determine if they were fake or not.

Hmmm…perhaps she'd get her chance soon enough.

The more she thought about this dilemma, the less she noticed her current condition. Every time she blinked, her eyelids would take a little longer to reopen. It wasn't noticeable at first, but as time went by the more her eyes seemed inclined to stay closed before opening up again

A yawn escaped her lips and Videl didn't bother to cover her gaping mouth as there was no one around (well, no one _awake_, at least) to employ manners for. Almost unconsciously, she scooted closer to the cave wall opposite of the one Gohan was currently asleep against. Not once did it occur to her that she needed to stay conscious as her new spot was becoming more and more comfortable. Eventually, her eyelids stayed shut and she drifted off into the world of dreams.

* * *

Beta'd by Ms. Videl Son (aka, megaminoeien on DA)


	8. Chapter 8

**Title:** Off the Beaten Path  
**Author: **MakaiAlexa (aka, Furiael on DA)  
**Rating:** PG – Due to the large number of authors participating in this event, rating is subject to change at any time.  
**Disclaimer:** None of the authors taking part in this Round Robin claim to own Dragonball/Z/GT.

**Summary: **Round Robin. Gohan and Videl get lost in the woods, and Videl doesn't know about Gohan's powers! What's a demi-Saiyan to do? (donated by texaspeach).

* * *

_After a difficult journey with the country boy Son Gohan, he and Videl managed to find their way back to the rest of the crew. Now, the only obstacle was an old and creaky bridge._

__

"Gohan, remember what happened the last time we were on a bridge like this ?" she asked, staring into his eyes with a somewhat worried and concerned expression.

"Videl, we'll be fine. We only have to walk and look forward and not stop for thinking," he replied, showing her an expression that looked really alien on his face in her opinion.

After a slow nod, she decided to walk toward the bridge, the first step over it showing the current state of the wood logs. "Gohan , I – " Videl was unsure, and she had to accept that she was scared at certain point.

"Just go, Videl, I'm right behind you ."

_Step by step, creaking sound after creaking sound reminding her that she was still on the rickety bridge, but something was wrong. Stopping when she realized that the only sounds heard were the generated by her own shoes, Videl turned to look for the demi saiyajin. _

_"Gohan, this isn't funny. You are using me to check if this stupid br-!" Her words were stopped by her own gasp, as she found the huge and muscled figure of the villain Cell just in front of her. "Bu-But you-!"_

_The perfect android walked toward her, extending his arm to push her over the logs, making her let out a loud yelp and a grunt when she hit the splintering wood. Trying to stand up, one of the groaning pieces didn't resist her weight, making her fall through the created hole, her arms being the only things helping her to stay on the bridge. "M-My father killed you long ago!" She shut her eyes tightly as she called her father, the hero, to come and defeat this ugly bug once again.  
__  
Cell was charging one of his tricks and pointed at her with his finger as a small ball of light was being created. She knew it was only a stupid light, but at that time she felt like it could pierce her chest at any moment. "G-Gohan!"_

__

Why did she call Gohan? He was just a country boy!

But, well, he was a country boy who had the body of a Greek athlete, the strength of a bull and he was Son Goku's son! He had to do something against Cell! At the very least, he could distract the android while she got a better fighting position!

_Videl tried to move, calling once again to Gohan, just to find that another log had broken and, with a quick maneuver, grabbed a weak rope dangling nearby. She knew it wouldn't hold for long. _

_The girl stared down at the river below, which seemed to run away from Cell as the current was really turbulent and fast. Turning to the android, she could only feel the heat from his technique, which he threw at her. "It's just a trick, it's just a trick!" Even with repeating herself that sentence, her mind would scream that she was really in danger._

__

Then, she opened her eyes, feeling herself light as a feather, just to find that she was being held by Gohan. He deposited her on a huge rock, not moving his eyes from the android who was still on the bridge.

_" Gohan, what are you going to do!" She grabbed his wrist, not wanting the young man to go, but his eyes, his expression and even his body language were different. Suddenly, with Videl still clinging to his arm, Gohan let out a gold veil which covered him, while his hair went as gold at that veil and his eyes turquoise. "The gold fighter !" Videl stepped back a bit, releasing her hold on the demi-saiyan's hands, while he jumped to fight against the android.  
_

"Gohan ? Gohan! Your mother is worried. I had to stop Goten from coming here, since you were with a human."

"P-Piccolo!" The demi-saiyan almost slapped himself when he heard the Namek's voice, realizing that he was just a couple of meters away from the Satan girl. He moved his hands and covered his mouth, sweatdropping, and forced himself to stop talking.

"What the hell are you doing here, kid?" the green man asked, eyes narrowed disapprovingly at his young charge. "Do you have any idea of what I had to listen from your mother just for going to visit you?"

Gohan could only sigh, listening to Piccolo's voice as he stared at Videl, thanking to Dende and almost cursing to Murphy as everything seemed to be against him. "Let's just go outside, Piccolo ," he suggested, moving his lips with no apparent sound coming from them. Good thing that the green man was from Namek; his hearing was superb, which allowed him to hear a faint whisper from Gohan.

As quietly as he could, the demi-Saiyan pushed Piccolo out of the cave and away from Videl.

* * *

_It was simply a difficult fight, impossible to follow by her eyes. But suddenly, a loud explosion was heard and then Gohan could be seen, pinned to the ground. "Oh no!" She tried to go and get him but it was simply impossible. He was at the other side of the river. "Gohan! Stand up! You have to stand up!"_

_The gold fighter had a difficult time getting to his feet. He accomplished this task just in time to find that Cell had unleashed another one of his light tricks against him. Gohan's eyes snapped wide open as he saw the huge white sphere of light fall over him...  
_

" Gohan! WATCH OUT!"

A small rock fell onto her cheek, making her snap her eyes open. Videl immediately looked around, searching for the attacker, but realized that she was alone at the cave. No signs of her weird companion. And thank Kami he wasn't around because she would have had to explain why she was calling the country boy's name while sleeping...

'_This stupid adventure is turning my mind into a mess._' That was the only conclusion she could think of while she rubbed her eyes and glanced around the cave, making absolutely sure that this son of Goku, a former Budokai champion, simply wasn't around.

Videl stared at the almost fading fire and that made her remember about her dream where, with any logical reasoning, Gohan turned out to be Saiyaman and, at the same time, he could make his hair blond at will. '_Hello, Videl!_' She continued talking to herself, absent to the world, '_How could you connect Gohan with that people from the Cell Games?_'

Her mind continued turning and turning and "projecting" images from her childhood years, slowly finding that some of her Budokai heroes were at the evil tournament. " They were all there ...Krillin, Tien Shin Han and even Yamcha! I can remember all of them being at the Cell Games!" By that sentence, she simply stood up, walking around the rocky ground, trying to attach ends and stories. Gohan's story, specifically. '_He said that his father died fighting Cell, and that day, only the most powerful were there. Why wouldn't his dad be there? Or... Was he?_'

"Wait! There was a blond ma-!"

Her loud thinking was stopped by an echo-like sound. It was the echo of her companion, whose voice was coming from outside of the cave. " Gohan? Is that you?" this time, she spoke loudly and clear, so that her friend could pick up the sound with his sensitive saiyan ears.

"Oh no !" He whispered to himself, much to Piccolo's dismay. Turning to the Namek, the young demi-Saiyan pushed his master out of the cave and then to the wide open forest.

"Gohan, this is stupid and you know it. There's no way that you can get lost in this forest. You can't get lost in ANY forest!" He replied, responding to Gohan's really senseless reasons.

"Piccolo-san, I know that! But I can't let Videl know it too. That will give me lots of problems. Now go, and explain to mom that I'm fine, and with people from school, so that she can understand that I can't just fly and go back home." By this time, Gohan made a pouty expression, his eyes pleading to his master for mercy on his poor, demi-Saiyan soul.

After a loud sigh, Piccolo nodded and then floated away from Gohan. "Please, get out of this soon. I can accept you staying here, but I definitely won't accept being your mother's messenger!" After that, Gohan's former master blasted off into the sky, fast enough to make the trees and well as his hair and clothes shake or move.

The demi-Saiyan watched him go, letting out a soft sigh. '_I am saf- dead._' When he was turning back to the cave, the figure of Videl Satan made herself evident, arms crossed and staring at him.

"First, you flew to rescue me. Later, I found that you are, in part, a pervert. Then you have super strength. After that, I know that your father is Goku, a former Budokai champion. And guess what I've found out now, Gohan!"

He poked his fingers together, as he was expecting his fake story about the defenseless country boy to be ripped apart piece by piece right in front of his eyes by the hands and the bitter words of the girl in front of him. " W- what did y-you find, Videl?"

* * *

Beta'd by Ms. Videl Son (aka, megaminoeien on DA)


	9. Chapter 9

**Title:** Off the Beaten Path  
**Author: **Nububu  
**Rating:** PG – Due to the large number of authors participating in this event, rating is subject to change at any time.  
**Disclaimer:** None of the authors taking part in this Round Robin claim to own Dragonball/Z/GT.

**Summary: **Round Robin. Gohan and Videl get lost in the woods, and Videl doesn't know about Gohan's powers! What's a demi-Saiyan to do? (donated by texaspeach).

– – –

"W- what did y-you find, Videl?" Gohan asked helplessly, with fears of the worst things happening and the worst secrets revealed. He was thinking several things all at once, his mind racing through his panicked alien head, and all the while Videl was staring angrily at him.

"So, it was true after all, huh?" she said, talking to both herself and him.

"What was?" Gohan asked as Videl was building up the tension.

The silence went on for a bit, ripping Gohan apart. She looked quite mad. She wasn't smirking like when she'd almost revealed his secret identity as the Great Saiyaman. Gohan gulped.

"I really wouldn't have thought so if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, you know," she told him. "I mean, I thought she was just kidding."

"Huh?" Gohan asked, confused.

"Teddy bear underwear...Are you really into that?" she asked, holding up a pair of white underpants with a cute teddy pasted on the back.

"Uh," Gohan mumbled, speechless. Was that all? "Videl, that's just a pair of underwear my mother bought by mistake...I only wear them when there's nothing else in the drawer," he explained. "I left them to dry in the cave...Uh, are they dry yet, Videl?"

"I can't believe Angela was actually speaking the truth," she said. "She actually peeked into the boys' locker room?" Videl asked.

"Sure...," Gohan said, not really caring for the topic.

Videl then realized something utterly disgusting; "Wait, what the heck are you wearing?"

"What do you mean?" Gohan asked, looking down at his person.

"Ugh, you're not wearing anything under those pants? Gohan, that's so GROSS!" Videl complained. "Here! Take your stupid underpants!"

Actually, that wasn't true; Piccolo had brought Gohan fresh underwear from his mother, which had also made the Namekian quite pissed off, but at least it felt good. But since it would be a bad idea to tell Videl all of that, he instead took the teddy bear underwear from her hands with a small, insecure smile. "Thanks, I guess..." He said.

– – –

Gohan and Videl continued their walk in the woods the next morning. The sun was shining through the canopy above, leaving beautiful shadows upon the ground and the two friends' faces. Gohan could feel the class' collective chi nearby. They were a little far away, but as long as nothing unusual interrupted their journey, they might just make it back in a day. Give or take.

While Gohan was leading the way, Videl's mind was leading her towards the truth. (Or just something close enough.) She was reconsidering the whole thing about the Cell games and Gohan's family and friends over and over again. And again. And again. She would have to use her most utterly ridiculous imagination and fantasies only to make sense of it and connect everything. Or, at least, it felt utterly ridiculous.

She needed proof. But where would she get enough proof for Gohan to prove her proof? (Or...whatever.)

And that's when her imagination finally became REALLY ridiculous. She was thinking about flirting it out of him...

NO! She strictly thought to herself. Out of the question. It would never work! '_Get a grip, Videl. Maybe the truth is important, but your social life and reputation just won't allow anything like that! Neither will your pride! Or your father!_'

Then again, it probably wouldn't take that long. Such a simple country-boy would surely break in no time. '_Then again, no way I'm doing that!_'

After some internal debate, Videl decided only to use that as a very last resort.  
But what else could she do? Well, she could use the terrain to her advantage...what if she pretended to fall?

Videl then decided not to think further about her first idea and went for it. She intentionally tripped over a rock and fell to the ground. She forced out a girly scream of pain.

"Videl?" Gohan called, turning around to see her on the ground. "Videl, are you okay?" He asked, running towards her person.

Probably not the best idea, but at least she saw her chance. "No," she told him. "It hurts." She pitched her voice bright and high. And weak. It surprised her how gullible Gohan really was...

"Where does it hurt?" he asked.

"My leg...," she elaborated. "I can't walk."

"Don't worry, Videl," Gohan replied in a soothing tone. "Here, if you don't mind..." He said, grabbing her around the waist. Normally, she would mind big time, but it was part of her not-so-ingenious plan to let him manhandle her a bit.

Gohan then continued walking down the road, carrying Videl in his arms.

Now, Videl was free to search his pockets for anything he would want to hide from her. Perhaps she was capable of finding something good within the depths of his person...

– – –

Beta'd by Ms. Videl Son (aka, megaminoeien on DA)


	10. Chapter 10

**Title:** Off the Beaten Path  
**Author: **Ms. Videl Son (aka, megaminoeien on DA)  
**Rating:** PG – Due to the large number of authors participating in this event, rating is subject to change at any time.  
**Disclaimer:** None of the authors taking part in this Round Robin claim to own Dragonball/Z/GT.

**Summary: **Round Robin. Gohan and Videl get lost in the woods, and Videl doesn't know about Gohan's powers! What's a demi-Saiyan to do? (donated by texaspeach)

* * *

Well, that plan was a bust. The only fact about Gohan that Videl had discovered by ferreting through the hapless boy's pockets was that he was supremely ticklish. She'd keep that little tidbit in mind for later, just in case she got desperate for information, but the girl ultimately figured that her efforts had been a waste.

"Just as I thought," Gohan announced, showing her his empty palms. From Videl's position on a convenient nearby rock, she could easily see that her pointless ruse had at least tricked her naïve classmate. "I don't have any gum."

Videl tried her best to feign a disappointed expression, but got the feeling it came off as sarcastic. "Oh, no...too bad."

"Sorry...," the nerdy teen apologized, lowering his eyes in shame. A light blush flowed to the surface of his cheeks, implying sincerity. "My mom doesn't usually let me have sweets."

Though tempted to smack herself in the forehead, Videl restrained her impulses. Sarcasm was always wasted on the dense. "It's no big deal," the teen fighter placated.

"And...uh...sorry I almost dropped you before," Gohan continued. His flushed face deepened in color.

Deciding in hindsight that the butterfingers incident had been mostly her fault anyway, Videl magnanimously chose to wave away that apology, too. "Forget it. It's not your fault that you're ticklish."

"Yeah...but..."

"Seriously," she said with a glare. She dared him to say "sorry" again. "Forget it. It wasn't your fault."

Gohan flinched at her tone, but didn't attempt another apology.

"Now, let's get going," Videl decided for the both of them, rising easily to her feet.

"Are you sure it's okay for you to walk?" Gohan asked. She could tell he was fretting. "You probably shoudln't put pressure on that ankle just yet."

"Oh, that?" Videl looked down at her allegedly injured foot as her insides squirmed with guilt. To think that he was worried over something like that...something that most people would assume that she could just shake off and go about her day. Her selling point was toughness, after all. "It's, uh...not as bad as I thought. I think I just twisted it a little."

Gohan moved towards her and dropped down to one knee to observe her ankle more closely. Videl was tempted to blush; in every crappy romantic movie that Erasa had ever forced her to watch, this was always the part at which the hero proposed marriage to the heroine. Almost reflexively, she took a step back.

The Son boy looked up, clearly confused. "Hold still, Videl," he commanded softly as he inched toward her again. "I need to see your injury."

"It's fine, honest." She backed up another step.

Gohan followed, slowly moving forward in his kneeling position. "I still think I should take a look at it," he argued, holding out a hand as if hoping to put a ring on her trembling finger. "I want to make sure it's strong enough to walk on."

Now Videl could feel the heat radiating from her cheeks. There were practically heat waves rising from the surface of her skin. "What are you, a doctor?"

"No," Gohan replied as he closed in on her. "But when you live as far out in the country as I do, you have to learn to take care of yourself. There isn't a doctor within a hundred miles of my house."

Videl had finally moved as far back as she could; the rocky face of the mountain was pressed up against her spine, preventing her from going any further. "What if there's an emergency?"

"Then we fly as fast as we can to the hospital. Now, hold still and – mmph!"

With her supposedly injured foot planted in Gohan's face, Videl queried, "Wait...you don't have a jet. I would've seen you get into it after school! How can you _fly_ to the hospital?"

Gohan blinked at her over the toe of her boot, obviously befuddled by her question. Ha! She'd caught him in a lie. "Mmmph umph fufphpfft..."

Videl lifted her sole away from his mouth and said, "Sorry, say again?"

"We...umm...," the nerdy teen struggled. Videl half-suspected that he hadn't actually said anything before, but had rather hoped that she would _think_ he had a quick answer ready. Relying on her to fill in the blanks was a BIG mistake.

Videl couldn't help smirking triumphantly at him from her lofty position above him. "What was that?"

"Uhhh...," Gohan fumbled for another couple of seconds before blurting, "W-We have...um...a neighbor! Yes, our neighbor has a jet that he lets us use in emergencies."

Videl frowned. His story, despite being suspiciously belated, was infuriatingly plausible. "I thought you were so far out in the country that there was nobody around to help you."

"W-Well, there's a small town only a few miles away," the Son boy explained, sounding truthful for once. "They've got stores, a post office...that kind of stuff. They're just not big enough for a hospital."

Curses. Foiled again.

"Whatever," Videl said with an annoyed snort. She put her foot back on the ground and began stomping down the trail, openly miffed. After a few yards, she turned and snapped, "You coming or not?"

Gohan, who had remained in his awkward kneeling position throughout her pouty walk, leaped into a standing position. He was at her side so quickly that Videl almost wondered if he'd used superhuman speed to get there.

Deciding she was too mad to point out this latest weird occurrence, the teen fighter commenced her huffy pace and took off down the trail, Gohan bumbling along behind her.

* * *

They had been silent for nearly five hours now, Videl's annoyance hovering over the pair like a threatening cloud. Gohan fully expected lightning to strike at any second (figuratively speaking, of course) and so tried to make himself look as small and inconspicuous as possible. He irrationally wished that he weren't quite so tall...

Over the past few hours of tense quiet, Gohan had distracted himself from Videl's ire by tracking the energy signals of his classmates. It had been a little difficult to direct the Satan girl's path in their direction at first, but eventually she had given up on taking the lead and simply followed him unquestioningly. The group of teens and teachers they were hunting weren't very far away now. Even considering their slow pace, they should arrive at the class's campground before dark. Maybe within the hour, even.

Gohan chanced a peek at Videl over his shoulder. When he caught her glaring eyes, he turned away again, petrified. She had been staring at him that way since their last conversation and Gohan was getting closer and closer to all-out panic. He knew what that expression meant on his mother's face and if Videl had similar ideas...Well, he might just have to reveal his secret and fly away from her if it ever came to that. FAR away.

On the other hand, he didn't want Videl to be angry with him. This little adventure together had taught him that, despite her temper, the Satan girl was really very nice. She was honorable, clever, strong, mature...even sweet sometimes. With any luck, they would one day be friends. He could see that happening...They could hang out at lunch, go to the movies on weekends, hold hands while they walked...it would be great.

Gohan was so caught up in his cheerful fantasies of cuddling (in a friendly way, of course) next to a roaring fire with Videl that he didn't notice the uneven ground until it was much too late. Like Alice going down the rabbit hole, the Son boy suddenly found himself free falling past packed earth and spidery roots. There was no mysterious door or size-changing snacks at the bottom, just a bunch of mud and rocks that were _really_ uncomfortable to land on.

"Oof!" was the sound that Gohan made upon contact with the ground, the air whooshing out of his lungs at high speed. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the pain in his organs to abate.

"_Gohan_! Are you alright?"

When the Son boy opened his eyes he instantly felt a little better. Videl, who had apparently decided to break her silent treatment in favor of showing him pity, was leaning over the rim of the pit to check on him. She was frowning still, but in a different way...maybe she was worried about him? (Just the thought of Videl fretting over his welfare made him blush.)

"I'm fine...," Gohan replied, sitting up just to prove it. He moved his arms and legs for her benefit and grinned up at her before announcing, "Not injured!"

For the first time in hours, Videl smiled, sending the little butterflies in Gohan's stomach into a tizzy. They tickled at his insides, making him want to giggle and vomit simultaneously. "Good..."

"HEY!" a new voice suddenly interjected. "What're y'all doin' to my critter trap?"

* * *

Beta'd by Ms. Videl Son (aka, megaminoeien on DA)


	11. Chapter 11

**Title:** Off the Beaten Path  
**Author: **PiccoloisGreen  
**Rating:** PG – Due to the large number of authors participating in this event, rating is subject to change at any time.  
**Disclaimer:** None of the authors taking part in this Round Robin claim to own Dragonball/Z/GT.

**Summary: **Round Robin. Gohan and Videl get lost in the woods, and Videl doesn't know about Gohan's powers! What's a demi-Saiyan to do? (donated by texaspeach)

* * *

Gohan groaned, hunching his shoulders as the familiar voice reached his ears. From his spot down the hole he couldn't see who was talking to Videl, but he didn't need sight to identify the person. He screwed up his nose as the stench of dried blood and animal fur reached him and knew that Videl would be doing the same.

Videl had been startled by the voice that had appeared to have come out of nowhere and spun around to find a wild-looking man approaching her from behind a thick patch of shrubbery. His mere appearance made her nervous – how long had he been watching them? – and she took an involuntary step back, her heels causing dirt to crumble down the black pit as she came dangerously close to its edge.

"Careful, Videl!" she heard Gohan call from the hole and she turned to sneak a glance down at him. She could barely make out his form, but had the distinct impression that his eyes were trained on her.

'_They better not be trained on my ass_,' she thought before turning back to the man who stood now a mere three feet away from her.

If the fact that he'd clearly been observing them for some time wasn't enough to disturb her, the look of the man certainly did. Videl didn't consider herself a snob, but the old man's matted hair, ripped-up clothing, and the belt of dangling animal carcasses wrapped tightly around his waist was enough to make her gag.

Worst of all, the smell of the man consisted of a mix of dead things and overly-ripe BO, and had her dry reaching within seconds. Still determined not to appear too affected by the man in this way, she resorted to faking a coughing fit, and hoped she'd get used to the smell quickly.

When she felt sufficiently capable of handling the situation (meaning that she was pretty sure she wouldn't gag in the next minute or two), she righted herself and looked the man in the eye, fearing the madness that she found in there.

"Well?" he demanded suddenly, his hand falling on a small axe that also hung from his belt. "What're y'all doing 'ere on my land? This is private property, I'll have y'all know; I oughtta be of mind to shoot y'all for trespassing!" he added, shifting his shoulders in a maddened jerk to emphasize the rifle slung over his back.

Below, Gohan squinted at the light above, frowning as he grew more and more anxious to get out of the pit. It was deeper than he first thought; at least ten feet of soil stretched above the height of his own head, and he knew that if he jumped out Videl would grow even more suspicious of him.

But he had to get out. The man who was confronting Videl now really was mad, and Gohan knew this for a fact. Adding to the conflict was the fact that the man had seen Gohan before, and had witnessed both his abilities and his transformation into Saiyaman. If the man were to see him again, Gohan was sure he guy would start talking about flying people and 'transformations,' and then his secret identity would be revealed. Gohan shook his head, cursing little brothers under his breath. There wouldn't be half as much trouble if it weren't for Goten...

_He had just walked though the door and dropped his schoolbag beside the couch when his mom came running round the corner, her eyes filled with panic. Gohan knew something was wrong when she took a look at his bag, discarded lazily on the ground instead of tidily in his room, and dismissed it without a second glance. Usually he'd have his ears chewed off for messing up the lounge._

__

"Goten's missing!" she said breathlessly, clutching her chest desperately. I can't find him anywhere; I think someone's taken him like they took you all those times!"

"Mom, calm down," he spoke gently but firmly, already stretching his senses out in order to find the runaway child. "He's probably just flown off to meet Trunks somewhere; there's no reason to panic."

"But it's so late! He'll be getting hungry! The sun will set in the next hour!"

"And he can take care of himself," he replied pausing as he picked up the familiar ki. "There, I found him. Boy, he really took nimbus far this time!" he added, chuckling. Without another word he turned for the door and took to the sky, barely remembering to call "I'll be back in a few hours!" to his mother before setting off to find Goten.

_Gohan flew as Saiyaman, backtracking half the way to Satan City before he finally reached his destination: the vast forests of the 654 area. The place was familiar to him; occasionally, he had trained there with his dad during the years before the androids attacked, but why Goten had chosen to fly so far off was a complete mystery to him. Nevertheless, he descended into the woods, already __beginning to run as his feet touched the ground, quickly honing in on the little mischief maker that was his brother._

__

He found the kid watching – and talking to – a group of geese swim around a small lake. Shaking his head with a small grin, he went to step forward, but paused as he registered the one-sided conversation.

"...so my big brother said he'd fight 'im – his name is Gohan, and he's the bestest brother in the whole world! – and he beat up the monster sooo bad that the monster vomited a lady out of his mouth! I'm not supposed to know that but Trunks told me, so don't tell anyone, kay? So then... well, I think the monster got real upset, so then he said he'd blow up the whooole world, so then my daddy had to take the monster away, and after that my daddy had to stay in heaven. So that's why I've never met my daddy, but everyone says I look like him and I like that. But it's ok, 'cos my family's great; I love my mommy, and I love my brother, and I love my friend Trunks too 'cos he lets me play with all his toys, but Trunks said only sissy girls talk about love so I don't tell him that... and his dad is Mr. Vegeta, and he's a Saiyan like my daddy, but he's always frowning, but Mrs. Bulma is always smiley and she gives me ice cream! And..."

Gohan stood still, feeling as if someone had dealt him a physical blow. It sill hurt to think of the Cell games – he avoided reliving those memories at any cost – and although he knew in his mind that nobody blamed him, deep down he still harbored the guilt that it had been his foolishness that had led to his father's death.

Not only that, it hurt to think that Goten would never see his father. It hurt that Goten treated him like a hero when he didn't really feel like it.

_It hurt that when they could have done __**something**__ to bring his dad back, the older Saiyan had turned them down, and chosen to stay dead._

__

Goten's voice brought him back out of his depressing reverie. The boy was telling the geese that his mom would be worried and that he had to go home, or he'd get in trouble. Gohan took this opportunity to step out from behind the shelter of the trees, grinning as the boy noticed him for the first time.

"It's a bit too late for that, Squirt. Mom was going crazy when I got home; you really had her worried!"

"Gohan! How come you're wearing your Saiyaman outfit? Have you been fighting bad guys? Look at all the birdies, Gohan! Me an' Nimbus followed 'em all the way from our house! I didn't know birdies flew that far away!"

_Laughing, Gohan pushed the button on his watch that returned him to his usual appearance, and picked up the small boy who was now hugging his legs. He had __completely forgotten that he was even wearing his Saiyaman uniform, and was surprised the cape hadn't caught on anything. Lifting Goten onto his shoulders, he spun around..._

__

...and found the barrel of a gun pointed directly at him.

"What're y'all doin' on my land?" the crazy-eyed man behind the gun asked. "And what're ya anyway? Some kinda hocus-pocus creature, all transformin' before my eyes! I oughtta shoot you for that, freak!"

"Seriously, we meant no trouble!" Gohan replied quickly, putting both hands in the air. Goten, still perched above his brother's shoulders, did the same, adding a quick, "Sorry mister!" to the mix.

"I don't care what you mean; you're some kinda demon creature, and I'm gonna shoot you for it!" the old man replied, cocking his gun and pulling the trigger.

Gohan took to the air and flew out of range as fast as he could, knowing that there was no hope of reasoning with such a strange old hermit. "Man, Squirt," he said, looking up at Goten, who was now standing on his shoulders and peering down at the forest below. "You sure know how to get yourself in trouble!"

"Sorry Gohan," the little boy replied, hugging his big brother's head. "I didn't mean to."

"I know. Don't worry about it. Let's just get you home to Mom."

_Gohan flew off, deciding that it wasn't necessary to worry about that old man, and what he had seen. It wasn't like Gohan would ever go there again, and the man hadn't even known what he was looking at, so Saiyaman's true identity was safe for another day._

"WELL!" the man's demanding voice drew Gohan back out of his memories. "I know you've got someone down there, lady; you're plannin' to steal my critters!"

"No!" Videl replied, holding her ground above. "You've got it all wrong! We were just walking through here, and Gohan fell in! We had no idea that there were any traps here!"

"Liar! I know you wanna steal my critters, you filthy woman! Step aside! I need to take care of my critter traps, and that means disposin' of any rubbish down there!"

"Filthy!" Videl countered. "Look who's talking, you stink! Besides, I happen to know that this is all public land, and that means you're stealing these animals from the state! No hunting allowed!"

"Videl!" Gohan called. "Don't provoke him! He's dangerous!"

"Huh? Do you _know_ him, Gohan?" she called down into the pit, her hands placed firmly on her hips. "I don't need your help! I deal with criminals far worse than this old kook every day, thank you very much!"

Unfortunately, Gohan's warning provided Videl with the distraction that the old man needed to swing his gun around. Gohan's sensitive ears picked up the sound of a gun being cocked, and the young Saiyan decided that now was the time to throw caution into the wind.

Videl gasped as she heard the familiar sounds of a loaded gun, and spun just in time to see the crazy man's finger lift towards the trigger. In the next moment, something blurred in front of her, just as the sound of a shot rang out through the air.

She stumbled backwards, barely missing falling in the pit herself, and landed unceremoniously on her butt. Blinking in shock, she realized it was Gohan who had jumped in front of her, and who now stood dead still where she had been standing.

"It's you!" the old man screamed, looking at Gohan. "Th…the demon!"

At the same time Videl scrambled to her feet, rushing to see if Gohan had been hit. But he stood unharmed, his face the most serious she had ever seen it, and the bullet crumpled in his hand.

"Gohan," she whispered quietly. "What…_are you?"_

_

* * *

_

Beta'd by Ms. Videl Son (aka, megaminoeien on DA)


	12. Chapter 12

**Title:** Off the Beaten Path  
**Author: **Lilly-sama (aka, Kisakun on DA)  
**Rating:** PG – Due to the large number of authors participating in this event, rating is subject to change at any time.  
**Disclaimer:** None of the authors taking part in this Round Robin claim to own Dragonball/Z/GT.

**Summary: **Round Robin. Gohan and Videl get lost in the woods, and Videl doesn't know about Gohan's powers! What's a demi-Saiyan to do? (donated by texaspeach)

* * *

Gohan never took his eyes off of the man's frightened face, his own dead serious. He'd heard Videl's whispering perfectly well, due to his Saiyan hearing, but didn't dwell on it for now; he had to take care of this dangerous man first.

"Back off, you demon!" the man screamed, holding his gun tightly with both hands even though he'd seen the "demon" catch his bullet just moments ago.

"You should leave. _Now_," Gohan said in a deadly tone. The man gulped audibly, obviously intimidated. But he didn't let it get to him and tightened his hold on his gun; he wasn't going to let them steal his critters!

"I said, back off!" he screamed again, aiming his gun at the boy's head.

His brows furrowing more, Gohan said, "You really should leave; believe me, you _don't_ want to see me angry."

The man gulped again, his gun shaking in his hands. "I-I-I'm not gonna to let y'all steal my critters!" he yelled desperately.

"We don't care about your critters; we're just high school students on a school trip," Gohan tried to reason with the man. To no avail.

"Liar!"

Well, it looked like talking to this crazy person wouldn't lead them anywhere; he was going to have to sort this out the hard way.

Using his super speed, Gohan disarmed the man and knocked him out before he could react. Standing beside the now unconscious man, Gohan then turned to Videl who was still on the ground and looking at him with wide eyes.

His serious face vanished almost instantly and he scratched the back of his head nervously.

"I guess I have some explaining to do, huh?"

000

Gohan figured he could no longer hide the truth from Videl after everything she'd seen. He wasn't going to go into too much detail though, not wanting this to drag on, – they still had to go back to the school campsite after all, and telling her the whole story would take _hours_ – but he decided to tell her the bare necessities.

"I… I'm sorry I lied to you," he apologized, head lowered in shame. "I hate lying – I really do – but it seemed to be the only way to protect my family and friends' privacy."

"So you're Saiyaman, after all."

"Yes…," he admitted. "I'm really, _really_ sorry I lied to you."

Videl frowned. "Did you actually think that I would go and tell everyone about it?"

"I-I-I…" he stammered. In the end, he sighed. "I'm sorry."

Silence followed, though it was quickly broken by Videl, who still had some more questions for her classmate. Now that he was finally willing to talk, she wasn't going to let this chance go to waste.

"Is there anything else I need to know about you?" she asked.

Gohan fidgeted nervously. He _really_ didn't look forward to telling her about his origins. But, well...he knew it was too late to back down now, so, slowly, reluctantly, he nodded his head. Videl raised an eyebrow, but she wasn't all that surprised; she knew there was more to Gohan than just his superhero alter ego.

"Well, what's it?" she urged him impatiently when he didn't say anything. The young man sighed, knowing he had no choice.

"What I'm about to tell you will be hard to believe, and you'll probably think I'm a freak or something…"

"I don't think you're a freak."

Gohan looked up at this, his brows raised in surprise. After everything she'd seen him do, she still didn't think he was a freak?

"You don't?" he asked, as if to make sure he wasn't hearing things.

She shook her head. "I don't. Sure, you're a little weird, but you're too kind to be a freak."

He was probably blushing right now, but Gohan didn't care; he was too happy to care. Videl didn't think he was a freak! He smiled widely, then unexpectedly hugged the girl, unknowingly making her blush.

"Thanks, Videl. It means a lot."

"Um, you're welcome?" she said, not being really sure why he was thanking her. Or hugging her, for that matter.

Wait, why was she letting Gohan hug her?

Videl sighed; why not, after all? It wasn't like it was going to ruin her reputation since there was nobody around to witness the boy hugging her. So she leaned on him and decided to enjoy this nice feeling while it lasted.

Unfortunately, the Son boy seemed to realize what he was doing and he immediately let go of her, moving away from her.

"Um, sorry about that…" he apologized while looking away and scratching the back of his head, a bright blush covering his face.

"It's okay." Videl said. '_I didn't really mind, anyway,' _she added inwardly.

"Well, um," Gohan stammered, his face still beet-red. "I… I just hope you won't change your mind about me once I tell you everything."

The girl looked at him expectantly, though she wondered what Gohan was so afraid of telling her. Surely it couldn't be that bad, could it?

"I… I'm not… I mean… uh…" Gohan stammered again, not knowing how to say it.

"You can tell me, Gohan. I won't think you're a freak," she said reassuringly.

Gohan breathed in deeply and closed his eyes, trying to give himself some courage. Okay, it was now or never…

"I'm not fully human."

Videl stared at him blankly. Not fully human? What did he mean by that? How could someone not be entirely human? Sure, there were the human/animal breeds, but Gohan was nothing like them. So what else could it mean?

"What do you mean?" she ended up asking.

Gohan sighed, but explained nonetheless: "My mother is human, but my father was from another planet, which makes me a half-human, half-alien."

There, he said it. He couldn't look at her though, too scared of what her reaction would be. What if she never wanted to hear from him again? To think he'd hoped they could become friends… Now it was all ruined.

Gohan's shoulders slumped in defeat. And the more he thought about it, the more he told himself that telling Videl the truth about him had been a _really_ bad idea.

As for Videl, she was having a hard time believing what Gohan just told her. Seriously, _aliens_? Why not ghosts, while they were at it?

But one look at Gohan told her that he was saying the truth. She didn't know what to think of it, though. Did her view of Gohan change, now that she knew the truth about him? Well, kind of; she didn't see him as only a bookworm anymore. Sure, he was still a bookworm, but one that could catch bullets with his hands and lift buses like they were nothing, as she'd seen Saiyaman do on a few occasions.

Did she see him as a freak now, though? Keeping her eyes on the boy in front of her who still wasn't looking at her, she decided that no, she didn't think he was a freak. Sure, he was beyond weird, but he had a good heart, always willing to help those in need. So, no, he wasn't a freak.

As she came to that conclusion, Videl moved closer to Gohan and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up at her with worried eyes.

"You worry too much, Gohan. Didn't I tell you that I didn't think you were a freak?"

He blinked. "Even now that you know what I really am?"

"Half-alien or not, you'll always be a nerd to me," she said playfully.

Gohan chuckled, relieved and happy that Videl accepted him no matter what he was. She was really a great girl.

"I guess that was your biggest secret then, huh? Or is there anything else I need to know?" the Satan girl then asked.

"Well… There's one last thing. And you're not going to like it," Gohan warned.

Videl frowned. "Why? What's it?"

He hesitated, wondering how she would react when she knew that her father was a fraud. When he'd told her about his origins, he'd been worried about how she would see him; now, he was worried about how she would see her own father. Gohan knew that what Mr. Satan did was wrong, but he wasn't a bad person, and he _had _kind of contributed to Cell's defeat when he'd thrown Android Sixteen's head towards him; if he hadn't, Gohan wouldn't have ascended and so wouldn't have had enough power to defeat Cell.

"Well? What's it?" Videl said impatiently, urging him to continue. Gohan sighed, resigning himself to tell her.

"Your father didn't beat Cell… I did."

* * *

Beta'd by Ms. Videl Son (aka, megaminoeien on DA)


	13. Chapter 13

**Title:** Off the Beaten Path  
**Author: **ShadowMajin  
**Rating:** PG – Due to the large number of authors participating in this event, rating is subject to change at any time.  
**Disclaimer:** None of the authors taking part in this Round Robin claim to own Dragonball/Z/GT.

**Summary: **Round Robin. Gohan and Videl get lost in the woods, and Videl doesn't know about Gohan's powers! What's a demi-Saiyan to do? (donated by texaspeach)

* * *

Videl stared at the boy, trying to comprehend what he had said exactly. _Gohan_ had beaten Cell, not her father. For some reason, something wasn't making sense in her head, like two jigsaw pieces being forced together instead of fitting naturally. It was crazy talk, her dad not beating Cell. Why, Hercule had even been retelling the story of his glorious victory with gusto the last she saw him. It had only taken one chop to beat that oversized…

Wait…one chop? Not some powerful special technique that her father had developed and kept secret, but a simple karate chop? Something wasn't right with that.

So she reviewed what she knew. Cell was a powerful monster that could kill people by smirking. As strong as Hercule was, Videl had a suspicion that it would take more than just a simple chop to the head to put him down. Either her dad had some serious strength (which she was pretty sure was true) and everyone had overestimated how strong Cell actually was or, as blasphemous as it sounded, perhaps Hercule hadn't beaten Cell after all. And if that was the case, who had?

Gohan seemed to offer himself as a worthy option so she needed to consider this concept for a moment. She knew that he was Saiyaman, an honest-to-gods superhero with the strength to lift up buses and the speed to catch bullets in midair. Videl was fairly certain that her father couldn't lift a bus (though he could break twenty four out of twenty five ceramic tiles) and she was damn sure he couldn't catch bullets.

Okay, so Gohan seemed to have a decent argument. Actually, it was a very good argument the more she thought about it, but that didn't necessarily make him the Cell Games champion. Hmm, she needed more proof of this boy's claim before she could believe him completely. Time to put the ball back in his court.

Returning her attention to Gohan, she found that he had seemed to lose the confidence he'd shown when he had first made his announcement. In fact, he was looking at the ground, looking as if he hoped it would swallow him up.

"Ehem," Videl cleared her throat, bringing his gaze back to her. "So you defeated Cell, right? Do you have any proof?"

"P-proof?" he stuttered, looking confused.

"Yeah, proof," she repeated, slowly this time. "Do you have anything to _prove_ that you did, in fact, beat Cell?"

"Umm…uhh," Gohan responded, scratching the back of his head as he thought. Patiently, Videl waited to see what he would do exactly. She wasn't expecting him to pull out Cell's head or anything, but this was a good way to get Gohan to willingly give out his secrets, assuming he had more to give. Already he had given her a truckload, so what was one more secret to add to that?

Suddenly, the Son boy's head shot up, his eyes bright with a revelation. "I know!" he shouted, sounding excited. "I'll just turn Super Saiyan!"

"Super what?" Videl asked, sounding a bit skeptical. "What's that?"

Gohan paused for a moment before saying, "Uhh, what do you mean?"

Speaking slowly, so that the boy would understand what she meant, the dark-haired girl replied "What is a Saiyan? I won't know what a 'Super Saiyan' is if I don't know what a regular Saiyan is."

"Oh!" Gohan said, realization dawning on him. "Well, 'Saiyan' is the race my father comes from."

Videl's eyes widened with realization, another puzzle piece clicking into its place. "It's the name of the alien species you belong to?"

"Right!" Gohan nodded vigorously, apparently excited that she was catching on. "So a 'Super Saiyan' is a transformation they go through to get stronger."

Videl mulled that over. It made some sense, she supposed, but she probably would have to see it to believe it. "Alright, so become this 'Super Saiyan' thing."

Gohan nodded as he took a new stance, his hands balled into fists at his sides. Soon, a look of concentration covered his face as the air around him began to waver. A golden glow appeared a second later before it became a roar. The next thing she knew, Gohan was standing in front of her with blond hair and teal eyes, looking down at her with a serious expression.

'_Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!_' was the first thought that ran through Videl's head. The next one was that this "Super Saiyan transformation" looked eerily like the Golden Fighter that had appeared before the Great Saiyaman.

Wait a second! The Golden Fighter showed up in Satan City on Gohan's first day of school, wearing the _exact _same clothes as her new half-alien friend. What were the odds? Pretty slim, in Videl's estimation.

"You're the Golden Fighter!" Videl exclaimed. She couldn't help herself, it had just slipped out. She'd meant that to stay in her inner monologue, but each new discovery was eroding her ability to keep her thoughts in her head.

Gohan began scratching his head like he usually did when he felt nervous, an apologetic look on his face. "Uhh, yeah I guess you could say that."

Videl, however, had begun tearing through her memory to the Son boy's first school day, trying to remember anything and everything she had said or thought that day. So far her recognition of Gohan's outfit had been proven to be a connection to him being the Golden Fighter. What else, what else was there? Let's see, Gohan came in, Erasa called him to their row, introductions happened, she mentioned the clothing similarities, then a faint recollection of the Cell Games…

And there it was. The footage of the Cell Games her dad kept around had two Golden Fighters, or 'Super Saiyans' as Gohan would call them. And two others had also changed their hair and eyes just as the Son boy had done a few moments earlier. Two young men, if she recalled right. And the ones who were already that way were a young man and…

…and a young boy about her age.

Oh Kami, that boy was Gohan. He had been at the Cell Games and he had fought Cell. Everything seemed to be spinning all around her, making her feel very dizzy until all she saw was darkness.

000

Gohan had watched as Videl racked her mind, making every single connection that she could think of. It was a bit frightening to see someone figuring out everything about him. He supposed it was inevitable, though, especially with someone like Videl always watching his every move, just trying to figure out what he was hiding.

Uh oh, Videl's eyes were getting very wide. Apparently, she had thought of something because it looked as if someone had turned on a light in her head…no wait, making that a sun. Yep, she was figuring out every single secret he had. He just needed to wait until she began throwing them out to confirm them.

Hmm, no, that was a bit off. Was…was Videl tilting to a side? Yes, yes she was. Now she was leaning towards the other side. Was she losing her balance or something?

And then Gohan saw her eye roll up into her head as her knees buckled. Eyes wide, the demi-saiyan acted quickly, catching the girl before she hit the ground. Well that was unexpected. Out of all the reactions he had thought Videl would've done, fainting was the very last one he thought she'd opt for. Today was just full of surprises.

That's when Gohan realized he had a bit of a problem. With an unconscious girl in his arms, the both of them lost in the middle of a forest, and a hermit thinking he was some sort of monster running round, the Son boy found himself in quite a pickle.

"Oh boy," he muttered to himself. "What do I do now?"

* * *

Beta'd by Ms. Videl Son (aka, megaminoeien on DA)


	14. Chapter 14

**Title:** Off the Beaten Path  
**Author: **Nububu  
**Rating:** PG – Due to the large number of authors participating in this event, rating is subject to change at any time.  
**Disclaimer:** None of the authors taking part in this Round Robin claim to own Dragonball/Z/GT.

**Summary: **Round Robin. Gohan and Videl get lost in the woods, and Videl doesn't know about Gohan's powers! What's a demi-Saiyan to do? (donated by texaspeach)

* * *

"Oh boy," Gohan muttered to himself. "What do I do now?"

He scooped the area and looked at the little Ms. Satan he was holding in his arms.

What do I do, what do I do, what do I do NOW? Boy, what a good question. They needed to head back. Videl needed treatment and he needed to get away. And a vacation. He sure needed that! He surveyed the surroundings again. No crazy hermits in sight so far. He closed his eyes shut and focused, searching for his classmates' energy. Where were they? Ah, darn, it had become night already! They were sound asleep, of course. Unconscious, they would have no energy to feel.

Well, guess it's just another pajamas-party for those two... He didn't really like the last one considering... Everything. But he had no choice but to camp. Again. Not in another cave like the one before. They were, for some reason, always filled up with Godzilla Juniors. It was pretty annoying, actually.

Gohan looked at Videl again. She was breathing heavily and her cheeks were burning. A fever? Darn. He didn't want to play the doctor with her... She had given him a well-placed kick to the face the last time. Then again, this was pretty much an emergency and she was pretty much unconscious. He put her down gently, lying on his shirt. He had to check her. He just had to. It was the right thing to do! He gulped when he thought about the procedure in such situations. Well... she didn't have to know. What she doesn't know won't hurt her, and – uh, that sort of thing. It did make him feel guilty, keeping so many secrets. He had finally relieved himself of them, and now... more secrets.

He started off, feeling her forehead. She had a fever alright. He felt her breath. Very heavy. He listened to her stomach. Normal activity, according to the book. Her heart was a different thing... He couldn't just put his head in between her breasts! It'd be wrong. Very, very wrong indeed! But doctors did it... well, they did use that thing... what-was-it-called? Well, they didn't directly touch you anywhere, that's the point.  
Instead, he tried taking her pulse. It was beating a little fast.

What should he do?

Videl was sick, He was actually LOST and... how could things possibly get ANY worse?

* * *

Beta'd by ShadowMajin (aka...ShadowMajin on DA)


	15. Chapter 15

**Title: **Off the Beaten Path  
**Author: **texaspeach  
**Rating:** PG – Due to the large number of authors participating in this event, rating is subject to change at any time.  
**Disclaimer:** None of the authors taking part in this Round Robin claim to own Dragonball/Z/GT.

**Summary: **Round Robin. Gohan and Videl get lost in the woods, and Videl doesn't know about Gohan's powers! What's a demi-Saiyan to do? (donated by texaspeach)

* * *

Last time on Off the Beaten Path:  
Videl was sick, he was actually LOST and… how could things possibly get ANY worse?

**Chapter 15:**

The second he thought that, Gohan groaned. He should have known better than to let that thought escape – it was Murphy's Law just waiting to happen. Particularly the version that said that if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong at the most inopportune moment possible.

A drop of rain landed on the demi-Saiyan's head and he looked up at what sky he could see through the trees, cursing his luck. The clouds were a dark silvery grey, promising a heavy downpour that the two teenagers would be stuck in if Gohan couldn't find shelter soon. Sighing, he hefted Videl into a more secure position and began to trudge in a random direction.

Piccolo's voice filled Gohan's mind with welcome information. _If you go another mile or so, there's a cave. Not deep enough for wild animals to use, but it goes back enough that you'll be out of the rain. I don't want to be screamed at by your mother again – my ears tend to bleed._

_Thanks, Piccolo!_ Gohan smiled happily and broke into a run, carefully shielding his precious burden from bushes, briars and the rain that was beginning to fall harder with each step. He found the cave nearly a minute later, gently placed Videl on the ground away from the entrance, and dashed back out again, gathering chunks of semi-dry wood to build a fire. A ki blast would be able to start it.

By the time the amount of wood gathered (with an occasional check on Videl) had satisfied him, Gohan was soaked to the bone. Deciding that Videl probably wouldn't be waking any time soon, he stripped down to his boxers and lit some of the wood before laying his clothes out next to it and sitting down next to Videl. He frowned at her flushed face and slightly wheezy breathing, placing the back of a hand on her forehead and frowning harder at the temperature.

Not knowing what else to do, the hybrid took his shirt and put it in the rain, letting it soak up the cold liquid before returning to his friend's side and beginning to do a sort of half sponge bath on the flesh that was exposed. Though he'd seen a willow a mile back or so, he didn't want to risk Videl being allergic to the anti-inflammatory agent in the bark, the agent that had birthed aspirin. The best he could do at the moment was what he was doing. She woke up once or twice, but not for more than a minute and definitely not coherent enough to realize that she was practically in Gohan's lap while he was clad in nothing but his underwear.

Gohan often found himself staring at her facial features while he was attempting to bring her fever down. She really was very pretty, he acknowledged. Her small size, long hair (unusual for a fighter, he thought), and bright blue eyes, not to mention the form underneath the baggy clothes that so few saw, all had guys panting after her. Of course, the fact that her father was rich and famous was the biggest reason most everyone wanted to be friends or more with Videl Satan.

But that wasn't what made Videl, he thought. Videl was the most oxymoronic person he had ever met – she could be nice one second and the next she would do a complete 180 and bite another person's head off. _Actually, now that I think about it, she reminds me a bit of Vegeta as he is now_, he thought, smirking a bit at the thought of what Vegeta would say if he heard that. Videl tried to hide her caring nature under a tough exterior when she was at school, but it would always shine through thanks to the things she did for the city. Her acceptance of him as a half-human, half-Saiyan being was just the cherry on top. Videl really was a special person, he decided.

The teenager felt her forehead again and smiled in relief. He didn't know how long he had been doing this, but she didn't feel as hot as she had before, so he carefully laid her down and went to go get his pants. He knew exactly how she would react to that little scenario and foresaw a black eye at the very least.

Yawning as he put on the dry (albeit stiff) pants, he checked the sky to see if he could see any end to the rainclouds. Seeing nothing but grey, he shrugged and put some more wood on the fire. He could sense nothing near them for a few miles, and most life outside that range was quiescent, waiting for the rain to pass. He yawned again as he made his way back to Videl and lay down alongside her, making sure that she was nearest to the heat. Trusting his senses to alert him in any change in their environment – whether other life forms or Videl's condition – he let his eyes fall closed. His last thought as he drifted off to sleep? _I really hope that Videl doesn't kill me when she wakes up…_

* * *

Beta'd by ShadowMajin (aka...ShadowMajin on DA)


	16. Chapter 16

**Title: **Off the Beaten Path  
**Author: **MandereLee  
**Rating:** PG – Due to the large number of authors participating in this event, rating is subject to change at any time.  
**Disclaimer:** None of the authors taking part in this Round Robin claim to own Dragonball/Z/GT.

**Summary: **Round Robin. Gohan and Videl get lost in the woods, and Videl doesn't know about Gohan's powers! What's a demi-Saiyan to do? (donated by texaspeach)

* * *

Videl did not wake up the next morning.

Gohan was at first relieved to discover he had risen first by the breaking of dawn, as he remembered his concern about Videl finding out their sleeping arrangement. This morning, the rain had ceased, the grey clouds retreated to the west, and the sun welcomed them eagerly from the east.

He stepped outside the cave to roam the surrounding trees for something to eat. There was not much food to fill his stomach and hers; there were only berries and fruits of some kind, the same ones that they had been feeding on for a while. He thought about hunting, bringing back meat to the cave, but he thought that Videl might be opposed to such a thing, never having to eat something from a wild animal, and he would feel particularly bad about getting to eat meat himself without sharing it with her. Whatever he had gathered, he brought back the cave where Videl lay, beside the blackened and ashen wood that was their last night's fire. Along the way, he concentrated on the chis of their classmates and teachers to try and locate them, but he soon assumed that they were still asleep after he had not found a single trace.

By the time the sun had properly risen, he decided to check back on Videl to see how she was doing. He crouched down beside her slumped form and shook her.

"Hey, Videl. Wake up," he said. He shook her shoulders again, but it did not seem to affect her in the slightest.

It was here that Gohan began to realize that maybe something was not right. He placed a hand on Videl's forehead, and discovered that her fever had not eased during the night, but rather, gotten even worse.

"Shoot," he muttered. "This has gotta be the worst place to get a fever. I thought she was getting better last night."

Gohan thought that perhaps the cold that the rain had brought with it last night had worsened her condition, despite the warmth of the fire. And he also did not know if the fire had burnt for a long time unattended.

Gingerly, he picked Videl up and hurried over to a small lake that he had spotted while gathering some food. It was not too far away, but he still felt the need to fly there just to avoid wasting time that could spare Videl's health. He landed right by its banks and crouched down, his arms full of Videl, and scooped up some water from his cupped hands so that he could cool down her forehead. The water was fresh from the previous night's rainfall, and cold to the touch. He settled Videl down on the grassy bank, before pulling off a scrap of material from the bottom of his shirt. He dipped it in the lake, wringing out the excess water, and laying across her forehead, much like what he did last night.

This time, however, he found himself feeling rather anxious for her to wake up, despite what she might think. He wanted to reassure himself that this fever would not keep her unhealthy for too long. What would he explain to his classmates and teachers if they found out that the super hero of their city had fallen ill? To them, surely Videl was someone untouchable, unbreakable. All blame would fall on him!

He soaked the material again, before sweeping it across her face and neck, a gesture that he convinced himself was out of necessity, more than cheekiness. Although, he had to admit that pleasure was a side effect.

Slowly, her lids opened and she squinted up at him. Surprised by this reaction, Gohan stumbled backwards and stared openly at her.

"You're awake!" he exclaimed.

She blinked a couple of times, and managed to move her head in what seemed like a nod.

"How are you feeling?" Gohan asked again, and began to soak the small cloth in the lake.

"Alright," she muttered, but by her intonation and her raspy voice, he could tell that she wasn't.

"It's going to be okay," Gohan told her as he placed the cloth back on her forehead. "When the others wake, I'd be able to feel their chi and we'd go to them."

"I want to go home," she whispered.

Gohan nodded, and helped her sit up for a bit. "I'd love to take you home, but how are we going to explain that to everyone who thinks we've gotten lost in the forest? I think it'll be a good idea if we just return to our pack, wouldn't it?"

She didn't respond back, which caused Gohan to assume that she was feeling worse than she let on. The skin on her face was stained pinkish with the fever, but her eyes held none of her usual glint, and she remained slack within his arms.

Right then, he felt the first burst of tiny chi from one of their companions.

* * *

Beta'd by ShadowMajin (aka...ShadowMajin on DA)


	17. Chapter 17

**Title: **Off the Beaten Path  
**Author: **Crackabad  
**Rating:** PG – Due to the large number of authors participating in this event, rating is subject to change at any time.  
**Disclaimer:** None of the authors taking part in this Round Robin claim to own Dragonball/Z/GT.

**Summary: **Round Robin. Gohan and Videl get lost in the woods, and Videl doesn't know about Gohan's powers! What's a demi-Saiyan to do? (donated by texaspeach)

* * *

Gohan looked down at the grimacing girl in his arms and knew he had to make a choice. Bring her back to the group and risk wasting time trying to explain what had happened to them while Videl was sick, or take her to medical attention.

"Hang on Videl" he said as he scooped the girl up and lifted off the ground and then started flying toward Satan city, but making sure not to go too fast to upset Videl.

Gohan knew he couldn't risk Videl's health so he decided to take her straight to the hospital.

Gohan was happy to be able to fly again seeing as now he could easily tell where he was. 'No time to be happy though' Gohan thought looking down at Videl who was still grimacing in some pain. 'I need to concentrate on getting Videl some help.'

After flying at a suitable speed for some time, Gohan finally reached Satan City and quickly landed where no one would see him.

He stopped to check on Videl.

"How are you doing Videl? I hope I didn't fly too fast for you; are you feeling any better? I'm sorry this is my entire fault. If I would have ju…"

"Gohan…" Videl said quietly, making Gohan stop talking.

"It's not…your fault…" she said with a faint smile. But soon that smile went away as she grimaced in more pain that made Gohan even more worried.

"Don't worry Videl" Gohan stated as he picked Videl back up. "I'm taking you to the hospital."

'I can't run too fast, it would make Videl worse,' Gohan thought. So he started to "jog," which was still considered fast to others.

He noticed people looking at him as he ran by and heard them whispering to one another "Is that Videl Satan?" but Gohan had no time. He was on a mission.

Eventually he arrived at the hospital doors, walked in, and went to the front desk.

Before Gohan could even say anything, the lady at the desk quickly gasped, saying, "That's Mr. Satan's daughter! Quick find a doctor for her!"

It took no more than about a minute for three doctors to begin tending to Videl while Gohan sat in the waiting room, blaming himself for everything that happened.

'I shouldn't have tried to hide everything from her. If I would have just taken us to our classmates in the first place, Videl would be fine...' Gohan thought trailing off at the end.

"But then…" Gohan whispered to himself, "I wouldn't have gotten to know her the way I did…"

Then a doctor broke him from his thoughts. "Excuse me, are you the boy who brought Ms. Videl here?"

Gohan quickly stood up "Yes, is Videl alright?" Gohan almost shouted.

"Calm down," the doctor said with a chuckle. "She just had a high fever, but it's starting to recede now that she's getting the attention she needs."

After hearing this Gohan let out a huge sigh of relief, 'Thank goodness' he thought.

"But I came here to get you" the doctor continued. "Ms. Videl wants to see you."

Gohan looked at the doctor questioningly. "Really? She does?" he asked.

"Yes, this way." The doctor said with another chuckle.

'She probably wants to blame me for what happened.' Gohan thought as he followed the doctor. 'Why else would she want to see me?'

"Right through here." The doctor said as he opened a door revealing Videl laying down on one of the hospital beds.

Videl, who was now more awake then before, turned and looked at Gohan, with a smile, which was confusing Gohan even more. "Hey…"

"H-Hey…" Gohan stuttered as he walked a little further in the room.

"I'll leave you two alone." The doctor said with a smile as he closed the door.

Gohan turned back to Videl, and nervously said, "So…you wanted to see me?"

* * *

Beta'd by ShadowMajin (aka...ShadowMajin on DA)


End file.
